The New Hazlett Theater's first executive director is Sara Radelet, who arrives on the job Feb. 6.

Radelet, 35, is a South Sider and a former assistant director of the Mattress Factory. She takes the reins of the theater, which is slated to open Sept. 15 as a venue for Prime Stage's children's matinees, Attack Theatre, The Andy Warhol Museum, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and other arts groups.

Radelet said yesterday that she enjoys growing small arts organizations and believes the New Hazlett Theater will become "this hub that nurtures and incubates creativity."

The 400-seat theater will have an annual operating budget of $300,000 and two full-time staff members besides Radelet.

Until 1999, the Hazlett was the home of the Pittsburgh Public Theater. The venue closed in 2002 but has reopened occasionally for local arts groups. Three years ago, leaders of the Warhol and the Children's Museum began raising about $1 million to renovate and reopen the intimate North Side theater. Gov. Ed Rendell's office pledged $1 million toward the renovation, and the Heinz Endowments contributed a $500,000 grant.

Radelet grew up on the city's North Side and, at her mother's urging, began volunteering at the Mattress Factory while still a student at Langley High School. She graduated from George Washington University in 1993, and one year later she returned to Pittsburgh.